European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 8, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday february 8, 1993 the stars and stripes a Page 3buyers suits on furniture must wait by Kevin Robinson staff writer customers who paid thousands of dollars to stateside furniture corp. Must wait until there is proof that the company will not Honor Purchase orders before taking Legal action against the firm a spokeswoman from the . Air forces in Europe said Friday. A right now there is no proof of the company defaulting a capt. Felicia Tavares a Safe spokeswoman said from rams cirt a Germany. A from what we be Learned once the furniture goes into the warehouse it belongs to the person who ordered  stateside furniture caught overseas customers by Surprise when the .-based company suddenly closed its 16 european offices in december. Recently the company also announced that its Greensboro n.c., warehouse is to close March 31. The company advised customers by form letter to arrange for pickup and shipment of their furniture at the warehouse before its scheduled closure. / Legal officials from Safe and the . Army Europe Are advising customers to take their contracts and any other related paperwork to their nearest Legal assistance office. There they can determine through the details of each contract what options arc available for customers if stateside defaults on its furniture orders military officials said. Or these options Tavares said May include a filing n claim against the furniture company. A filing a complaint through the consumer Protection Agency in the state i. Ere customers arc to be reassigned. A As a last resort those who ordered furniture on a military installation can Contact the morale welfare and recreation office there for assistance. Transportation officials at fort Bragg  Friday that their office has moved 14 orders from the stateside warehouse for customers returning from Europe since january. Another 114 shipments remain on hand at the warehouse. Because the stateside warehouses near fort Bragg that posts transportation office handles overseas requests for pickup and transportation of furniture from the  some service members who have since returned to the United states have voiced complaints about stateside practices. On Ore temporary duty at Kingsley Field e., ordered $2,500 Worth of furniture from  outlet in Vicenza Italy when he was stationed there in october. According to Gloria Leonarduzzi a Friend of Supan the major and his wife Haven to received their furniture. When sgt. 1st class Lorrie of Neal of Stuttgart Germany Learned that stateside had closed its overseas offices she did no to want to risk losing the $3,000 she had paid for furniture. She contacted her brother in Missouri and he agreed to drive to North Carolina and pick up her furniture from the warehouse. A you just done to know what will happen to stateside in the future a she said. Being overseas a you arc in no Many a land. You feel Safe when you have your for example Vlaj. Curtis Supan now hands on your  s career gets Start Scotland Yard by Nancy Torner . Bureau Raf Lakenheath England first it Jeffrey Thorburn Gate up a Job As a London Bobby about 10 years ago to move to the states. Today he a Back in England wearing the uniform of a Security policeman with the . Air Force. Thorburn 33, is a shift commander for the 48th Security police so at Raf Lakenheath. Although born in the United kingdom he became a naturalized . Citizen in 1987. Working in Law enforcement in different countries and returning to his roots after a 10-year absence has Given Thorburn perspective regarding the changing crime scene in England. A crime in the . Always is More deadly Quot Norburn said. A but we re the . Escalating too. I think its a change in society. The Small town Ana family values arc  adjusting to an american Law enforcement system has been easy for Thorburn. Granted looser British Laws allow bobbies to exercise More discretion on the. Of and they rarely carry guns. But the personalities of Lis co workers including their sense of humor is Simi a he said. For instance Thorburne a indoctrination As a Bobby included being sent to Eaton Square in London to Rescue someone who reportedly had fallen Down a manhole. After tapping his Truncheon on about a dozen of the 100 or More manhole covers in the Square he realized that veterans on the Force had duped him. In turn it is common at Lakenheath for Security police rookies to be handed a trash bag inflated with air and told to Rush it to the weather Section for analysis. Some new officers fall for the bogus order Thorburn said but All come away from the prank a Little Wiser. Thorburn said he decided to work in Law enforcement when he was 15, after listening to a Scotland Yard officer speak at his school. He joined the metropolitan police Cadet corps in 1976 and spent his first two years As a Bobby a directing american tourists who were lost a he said. He was promoted to the crime squad in 1979 after making an arrest that led to the recovery of stolen goods Worth about $38,000. He resigned his Job in 1982. A had i not married my wife id probably still be with Scotland Yard a Thorburn said. Thorburn gave up his Truncheon and whistle when he married Joanne Turner an american who was assigned to Raf Alconbury As a staff sergeant. The couple had met earlier in the United states while Thorburn was vacationing. Thorburn left England in Early 1983 when his wife was reasoned stateside. Thorburn wanted to continue working in Law enforcement in the United states and began working toward that goal by earning a degree in criminology and criminal Justice from Ball state University in Muncie ind. However he was delayed in attending officer training school at Lackland fab san Antonio Texas because of military cutbacks. A so i went to work for the Navy a Thorburn said. He was assigned to the Kings Bay naval submarine base in St. Mary a a. He was employed As a shift Eom a amps Davo Didio first it. Jeffrey Thorburn displays the Constable s helmet he wore As a Bobby in London before he joined the . Air Force and became u Security policeman. Mander of Security and Law enforcement under a contract with the department of defense. Thorburn left the Navy Job in 1989 to enter officer training school and was assigned to Malmstrom Afu Mont As a flight Security officer. While based in Montana Thorburn was deployed to saudi Arabia where he guarded a munitions storage area for operation desert storm. The storage site still lacked fencing and other Security measures when about 30 trucks arrived with various munitions he said. There were two attempted penetrations by the enemy but no shots were fired. A that was an interesting experience Quot Thorburn said. A one of the biggest threats when we deploy is terrorist  socially adjusting to american ambiance sometimes has been difficult Thorburn said. A i had no idea How to Register a. Car and the procedure for making Job applications was entirety different he said. Language differences also have gotten him into trouble. For instance the British phrase a a in la Knock you up at 7 of clock in the morning Means that you la pick someone up. Thorburn said he received some strange looks when using the phrase around american women. Given Thorburne a background one might wonder where his loyalties would lie if . And British ties disintegrated. A i suspect that if Britain and America Ever go to War the world will be in such a terrible state that it wont really make that much of a difference a Thorburn said. Benefits freeze a a _ a a burdens poor study reports by the Washington Post Washington a half the governments savings from a one year freeze on social Security Cost of living increases would come from Low income beneficiaries and Only a Small portion would come from High income households according to a study released saturday. The White House said two weeks ago that As part of its review of ways to control Federal spending it is looking at the option of reducing or cancelling the 1994 automatic annual Cost of living adjustment in social Security benefits expected to be about 3 percent. A recent congressional budget office study calculated that a on year cancellation starting in 1993 would have Cut Federal spending and social Security annuitants benefits by $41 billion Over five years. A cutting the social Security Cost of living adjustment of older americans struggling to survive just Isnit fair. It turns a Blind Eye to the realities of life for the most vulnerable a said Ron Pollack executive director of families Usa a non profit consumer advocacy group which commissioned the study released saturday. Organizations representing the elderly have loudly criticized reducing the cola. Senate finance committee chairman Daniel Patrick Moynihan d-n.y., called the idea a a death wish on the part of the Clinton administration. Cancellation of the cola would require an act of Congress. The study also looked at a second option mentioned by the White House a subjecting 85 percent of the social Security Benefit to the Federal income tax if the adjusted Gross income of the recipient is More than $25,000 for an individual or $32,000 for a couple. The financial Burden under that program would fall most heavily on upper income beneficiaries and not touch the poor and near poor a those whose incomes Are so Low they pay Little or no tax. At present no More than half the Benefit for people Over these cutoffs is taxable. The co recently estimated that if such a plan had started in 1993, it would have raised about $29 billion Over five years. Pollack said that while the cola Cut would be unfair a taxing the social Security benefits of the Well to do has the virtue of fairness a because it Falls most heavily on those Best Able to pay. The study found that of spending cuts achieved through a cola freeze for one year 47 percent would come from beneficiaries with income including social Security below $20,000, and another 33 percent would come from beneficiaries with income below $40,000. These two groups account for about 37 million people most of them elderly but also some younger disabled persons and orphaned youth. Only 20 percent of the savings would come from the 8 million beneficiaries with $40,000 total income or More the study found. The study said that eliminating the 1994 cola would a push 289,000 social Security beneficiaries 228,000 of them seniors a into poverty. A an alternative form of a cola Cut a reducing the cola adjustment by 1 percent a year for five years a would have an even harsher Impact on Low and moderate social Security beneficiaries Quot the study found